Oscar Gamble Society

Yes, I realize there was actually three Parts in the “Major League” catalog.  But I’m talking about a little deja vu I experienced regarding the original, as I watched the end of game 7 of the ALCS last night.  Maybe it was just me, but…

It was the Indians and an AL East power (the Sox, not the Yanks, okay).  And the Indians were batting, not pitching… yup.  But when Hafner stepped up to face Papelbon, I flashed back to Ricky Vaughn and Clu Heywood… maybe it was just me.

Hafner is the big slugger sauntering into the box.  And I mean big… like Anderson-big.  I couldn’t tell if he asked Varitek, “So how’s your wife and my kids?” - but it’s possible (and yes, I realize that was in the regular season in the movie, but work with me here).  And during the at-bat, tough to see through Varitek’s mask, but didn’t it look like he peered up to Hafner and wondered out loud, “Let’s see how the kid feels about the ol’ number 2 (as he flashes the #1).”

And Papelbon.  He doesn’t have Wild Thing’s black horn-rimmed glasses, but he is as flaky (and I refer you to the Riverdance the evening the Sox clinched the division as all the proof I need).  And he throws as hard.

I don’t recall a camera shot on Francona during that at-bat, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he muttered to nobody in particular, “Don’t give him the curve ball, Johnny… stick with the heater.”

Papelbon (like Vaughn) struck out the big slugger with three consecutive fastballs - each progessively faster than the previous one… though I don’t believe Papelbon actually got up to 101, like his predecessor.

Still… it seemed like I had seen that scene before in a movie… but maybe that was just me.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 22nd, 2007 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Sports, Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.